Comment: The following article appeared in the Cyprus Mail of Nicosia on 5 June 2003.

Strovilia residents told to get power from the north

RESIDENTS
of the Green Line checkpoint village of Strovilia have been told by
authorities in the occupied north to apply to them for electricity,
water and telephone lines, British Bases Police confirmed yesterday.

The government this week voiced its concern over “new Turkish
violations of the status quo” in Strovilia. Following a meeting on the
issue with British High Commissioner Lyn Parker on Tuesday, Foreign
Minister George Iacovou told journalists that Turkey was violating the
status quo by widening a road in the area, thereby disrupting the
electricity supply of families living near the checkpoint. As a result
of these actions, he said, residents in the area were being forced to
submit application forms to the breakaway regime for a telephone
connection, water and electricity supply.

Greek Cypriot residents of three houses in Strovilia were earlier
quoted as saying they felt insecure after coming under pressure from the
authorities in the north to apply for power.

Assistant Chief of Police at the British Garrison in Dhekelia,
Theodoros Tsiarlis, told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) yesterday that two
Greek Cypriot families living in Strovilia had been informed by Turkish
Cypriot authorities that water, power and telephone lines could be cut
due to improvement works near the checkpoint, adding that no such cuts
had been made yet.

He stressed, however, that the area in question did not fall within
the jurisdiction of the bases, making any intervention by the bases
impossible. Tsiarlis also denied reports that occupying forces had
encroached on bases territory. He reiterated that no such violations had
occurred, and said the status quo in the southeastern village had not
changed since alterations were made two years ago.

Police at a British base near Strovilia yesterday suggested the
reports of Turkish violations had been exaggerated. They told the Cyprus
Mail that the handful of Greek Cypriot families living in the area in
question had not complained of cuts, adding that residents usually
informed the bases of any problems with Turkish Cypriot authorities.
Turkish Cypriot ‘police’ and taxi drivers at the checkpoint also denied
that any disruption to power, water or phone lines had been made.

But British High Commission spokesman Stuart Summers expressed
British concern at the situation in Strovilia, adding that Britain’s
stance on the issue remained the same as that expressed when occupying
forces encroached on the village in 2000. He reassured that developments
were being monitored closely, saying the British had already
communicated with Turkish Cypriot authorities and the occupying forces
on the subject.

Referring to the issue yesterday, Government Spokesman Kypros
Chrysostomides also stressed the severity of the situation.

“It is a serious situation,” he said. “It is under examination and
observation by the relevant state authorities.”"